How To Create Your Own Sale Success

How To Create Your Own Sale Success

To build a successful business there must be some selling involved to get the incoming cash flow. I haven’t come across a business yet that just has money come into it because people think it is a fine thing to give a business their money.

Even charities must sell to get money coming in – whether that is selling products likes pins and pens or sponsorship. They have to sell the idea of fundraising to supporters so they have a network of people raising money for them.

So selling is a key part to creating a successful business (and charity).

But how quickly can you build this success? Well it depends on you really. The more consistent, constructive effort that is put in the better the results.

I’m coming into my busy time of year – from August through to December – so the ground work I put in now will make a direct and significant impact.

So I’m working on the old sales adage of “5 Sales Calls Per Day for 5 Days for 5 Months”.

I’ve read about this method often enough over the years but have been daunted by the concept of cold calls so have seen it as a one dimensional thing that is too hard and have avoided it.

When the reality is different – as it always is.

A Sales Call comes in many different guises. Have a look of what it can be for my business, calling to:

* book into a market

* find out details of a show

* confirm a party booking

* let a shop customer about new designs that are available

* say I’ll be in the area while travelling and available to show new designs

* find out what schools have an upcoming Art and Craft Show

These are all gentle sales calls – there’s nothing too daunting in making these calls. They aren’t “cold”.

It was only with making a series of calls in one day to schools about their calendar of Art and Craft Shows, Shopping Nights etc that I realised it wasn’t such a difficult thing to do.

Only a couple people were grumpy with me and as most were kind and polite I put it down to the odd individual either having a bad day or being a grump – nothing personal about me.

So I got to thinking that making the calls to people who don’t know me couldn’t be any harder than calling the schools.

Now I have a sheet of paper by my desk with big red writing saying “5 Sales Calls per Day for 5 Days” with a tally.

A sale call is defined as a call that is set to generate me business. The degree of difficulty doesn’t count although I am purposely mixing it up and it feels really good. It is breaking through self imposed limitations that feels so liberating.

I know the constant effort of an action makes a real difference – the proof is around us every day in all manner of things – so I know making 5 sales calls a day makes a real difference to the bottom line.

By making the calls I’m getting better with my technique and manner which will create better results as well.

With me I know that I have to manage the side of my nature that does something full speed and a little excessively and then feels overwhelmed and stalls after. Instead I have to learn from the tortoise and let the hare run off with someone else.

So what would be the impact for your business of committing to and doing 5 sales calls per day, 5 days a week for 5 months? Could you measure where you are now against where you are after 5 months of 25 sales per week?

I’ve also decided that the 25 sales calls per week is a minimum so for the weeks when I get in more I’ve just done extra better, not got ahead of the habit of making the sales calls.

It is the habit of making the sales calls that makes a big difference too. But habits that are good for success is another article in itself!

So write a list of your own activities that bring income into your business and then figure out what actions bring that about – there’s your sales calls list!

If making cold calls daunts you, start with something warmer and you see as easier and build your skills up. The worse that can happen is someone says no to you – so what, not everyone who looks is going to buy and you don’t expect them to. But the more you seek the more you’ll find.